The American Dual Wielder
by Shadoath
Summary: Eric James just wanted to enjoy the newest gaming system to come out, but Kayaba screwed that up. But seeing as he's stuck in this game, may as well become as powerful as possible along the way, and make a few friends as well.


**Disclaimer: I do not own SAO, I only own my OCs.**

The American Duel Wielder

"Link Start!" I called and watched the rush of colors as my Nerve Gear headset activated. Today was the official opening day of SAO-Sword Art Online, the first VRMMORPG. I couldn't wait, I had been looking forward to this moment for a while, as the beta had been awesome. Sure, I only got to floor 30 out of 100, but I was hooked. I see the login screen with my username/gamertag on it. I enter my password and watch the flash of light as I enter the game, I look around, and see that very little, it anything, has changed in the Town of Beginnings. I swipe down with my left hand to check the menu, and to see how much col I have. I start walking towards an NPC that I know sells healing potions/crystals, depending on who you ask, and check the weapons that I have. I have a weapons gift box with the option to choose from one of several categories of weapons. I chose a single handed longsword, and end up with a silver longsword, which surprised me as getting a silver weapon from a beginning box is supposed to be pretty rare, but I'm not going to complain, as it's durability was higher than any other weapon we would start out with, though the Anneal Blade would be useful as well, I just don't feel like taking the time to get it when I can use my current weapon for a good while. I check my available skill points as well, and see that I have several points that I can spend.

I check that skill lines, and they are still the same as they were in the beta, and buy the skills that I want under the swords and awareness skill lines. I buy the potions/crystals that I want from the vendor, then head to a nearby dungeon to farm it. I level up twice by the time it's 6pm, and am getting ready to head back to town for a safe place to sleep so that I can logout when I hear a bell start ringing, confusing me, as I shouldn't be able to hear it from where I am in the dungeon. Then I see a flashing light around me, and I'm back in the opening coliseum. I look around, and see that everyone is as confused as I am, and see that the coliseum is filling up. Eventually the lights stop, and the creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko makes an announcement about the reality of the game, and how we are trapped in this reality. I want to laugh, cuz it doesn't seem possible, but at the same time, as I check my menu, I can tell that it's true. There's no logout button. I spend about 30 seconds being scared before I decide that I'm going to beat this game as fast as possible. I don't care what I need to do, I will beat this game as quickly as I can so that I can get back to my family.

As soon as Kayaba is done speaking, I leave the coliseum, heading out to the fields to start farming even more than I was before. As I do so, I see another player running as well, and fall in step beside him. "Shall we?" I say motioning to the open fields ahead of us. He nods and says "Lets". We take off, and spend the next week in the field, constantly watching each other's back. I learn that his name is Kirito, as well as the reason behind it, and tell him mine, Shadoath. He looked at me kind of oddly when I said my tag. I explained to him that for me, it's like saying Shadow's Oath, or Oath of Shadows. I am the Shadow, and my Oath, or my word, is my bond, and I live by my word. After about a month, making a couple trips into town to restock when necessary, we hear about a meeting from Argo, who I had gotten to know during the beta. We arrive and listen to the various people talk about what to do with the floor boss, and then this arrogant ass decides to try and talk crap about the beta testers, but it shut down by Agil. Eventually the guy who had organized the meeting, by the name of Diavel, has us start partying up. Kirito and I look at each and nod, then look around and see a cloaked figure sitting off to the side by themselves. We move over and Kirito asks "Hey, want to party up with us?" The girl, as her voice gives her away, say "Uhm, I guess, but, how do I do that?" Kirito explains it and then sends her and myself party invites. We accept, and learn each other's names, though mine confuses her more than Kirito's. "How do you pronounce your name?" Asuna asks, pointing at me. I grin and say "Sha-doth, the second a is silent, like in oath." I explain. "Shadoath." She says and ponders for a moment before tilting her head and asks "What does it mean?" I laugh and say "There's no technical meaning as it's a made up word, but to me it's means Shadow's Oath, or Oath of Shadows, signifying that my word is my bond, for I am the shadow." She doesn't fully understand what I mean, but nods anyway. The next day we head for the boss room. Before we enter, Diavel decides to give us one more motivational speech before we head in. We enter the boss room, and start cycling through the motions to take out the boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord. Kirito, Asuna, and I are on add-on duty, as we're not a full party.

Eventually though, Illfang is brought down to the last of his health bars, and soon after he discards his axe and shield, in favor the sword that was a sheathed on his back. In the beta, it was talwar, but here, it's immediately clear that it's not. Diavel though, being the idiot that he was, continues to press forward, not bothering to make sure that that hasn't changed since the beta. It takes just one swipe from the boss, and he's taken out, as Kirito and I couldn't move fast enough to protect the idjit. We look at each other, anger evident in the other's eyes and nod, before moving. We've been working together long enough that we know each other's moves almost instinctively, and with Asuna helping out, quickly start take down the boss's remaining health, before Kirito and I go for a dual sword skill, landing the last attack at the exact same time, both of us receiving the last attack bonus. He ends up receiving the Cloak of Midnight, while I receive the Cloak of Twilight, which is colored a deep purple. However, the same guy that was trying to cause issues for beta tester's earlier, Kibaou, decides to make some more issues, blaming us for Diavel's death, and names us Beaters. Kirito and I look at each and laugh. Kirito gives a little speech about us, but I'm only half paying attention, so I don't even know what he said. We walk up towards the entrance, donning our cloaks. I look back and shake my head, saying "Well, good luck, y'all noobs are going to need it." Before walking out. We activate the teleport gate and add each other and Asuna to our friends list before heading our separate ways for the time being. Sure, Kirito and I worked well together, but we were both solo players, and so preferred to work alone.

**AN: So, as you can tell, one major different is my OC. He is, as the title says, an American, having moved to Japan only about 2 years previously, tho his parents had him learning Japanese for a while as the move was planned well in advance. He is originally from Texas, hence some of his language. Now, obviously, I'm using English just as a general go to, but they are all technically speaking Japanese. And as the title also says, yes I do plan on giving my OC the dual wielding ability, simply because I love dual wielding in general, so I just had to give it to him. However, this does not mean that I won't be giving it to Kirito as well, they will both have the skill, and train together with it later on. As for pairings…, well, I'll probably stick with Kirito and Asuna, but for my OC, I'm going to be putting him with Argo, cuz I think that she's an underrated character who isn't given enough love. So yeah. And please review! I need the advice, just please, no flaming. And a beta would be nice as well, if anyone is willing to help out there.**


End file.
